How to fix up table top

[Shift]

Just finished putting together a 7' table top using 2x6 pine.  

It's the first table i've ever built, so I'm learning as i go, and making mistakes. There are some small gaps between boards, and the top isn't completely flat in some places - just a couple of millimetres off here and there. 

What advice would you give a beginner for fixing the gaps and the flatness? ... Keeping in mind it's a harvest table with a distressed look, so I've got some leeway here. Should I be using wood filler for the gaps? I've read that unless you know what you're doing and have the right tools, sanding a table top is bound to lead to divuts. I'm wondering whether these would blend in to the distressed look.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[justin waldron]

Using a straight edge like a yard stick is a great way to find the bumps in the top and that's the place you want to start with sanding the top.  Use a pencil and highlight the areas that are higher than others first and if you're using a belt sander make sure to not stay in one place to long and keep it moving, this is assuming you don't have a handplane to flatten the surface.  Onto the gaps, I would leave them as they are since it is a harvest table.  the next time you do a top I would suggest jointing the boards if you have a jointer, this will make a seamless look, provided you have a jointer.  If you have planer, if I am making a top lets say 48 inches wide, I will make 4 glue ups of 12 inches, run all through the planer to get the matching thickness, then I'm gluing up 4 boards (4 seams) and not 8 seams to try and get flat.  This is the way that I have made all of my tops in the past and I use biscuits when joining boards together.  They seem to be a little less stressful and you have some adjustment with them before the glue sets.  I hope this helps.

[Rick]

First, I'm not sure what a harvest table is -- is that a dinner table, or a table where food platters are placed?  I guess you have to decide how much "flatness" you must have.  Your table is almost like placing large tiles on a countertop -- it becomes a real challenge to get all those edges and corners just "perfect," especially when you start with irregular tiles which are not flat.

Like Justin, when I connect boards together, I like to alternate biscuits and pocket holes.  Biscuits provide alignment, and the pocket screws provide clamping for the glue.  I have done that a bunch of times.

If your boards have rounded edges, like that photo you posted, then flattening the boards will affect the look of the table by making the rounded edges inconsistent.

I would not use wood filler, that seems like it would produce an awful mess.

What kind of tools are available for you to flatten this table?  There are lots of ways to do things like this, and the better your tools, the easier it will be.  And, btw, there's just about no limit to the amount one might spend on tools. 

[Ken Darga]

Rick said:

First, I'm not sure what a harvest table is --..../p>

Rick,

I believe it originated with the early settlers,

when they picked their harvest, ex as in corn,

that displaced it on the table,

for the shoppers to view... 

If you ever go to a farmers market,

where they sell sweet corn,

they generally have the corn stacked up on a wagon.

They can get more corn on a wagon, with side boards, than on a table.